


Spiders Don't Have Bones

by medusawiththesnekhair



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Gen, IT COULD HAPPEN, Irondad, but you never know, just a little one-shot idea i had, probably won't add any more, spiderson, the adventures of irondad and spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 09:24:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17464844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/medusawiththesnekhair/pseuds/medusawiththesnekhair
Summary: Peter falls down the stairs and probably breaks his wrist. He goes to the medbay with Tony and remembers something he learnt in biology: spiders don't have bones.





	Spiders Don't Have Bones

Spiders do not have a skeleton inside their bodies.  They have a hard outer shell called an ‘exoskeleton’.  Because it’s hard, it can’t grow with the spider. That means young spiders need to moult or shed their exoskeleton.  The spider must climb out of the old shell through the cephalothorax. Once they are out, they must stretch themselves out before the new exoskeleton hardens.  This gives them a bit of growing room. As adults, they stop growing and do not need to moult.

 

***

 

I shouldn’t have tried to grab my book. It was sliding across the floor towards the stairwell and as I was about to grab it, it slid under the railing. I looked around the hallway. There was no one around. No one was on the ground floor either, as far as I could see and the bell for the second period was about to ring. I jump down but misjudge the landing and land half on a step, half off and I fall over. Before I can think about anything, MJ and Ned look down from above at me.

‘Peter?’ I look up, cradling my arm.

‘Hey.’

‘Did you fall?’

‘Just a little bit.’ They run down the stairs and meet me at the bottom step where I landed. MJ has a quick look and pokes at it gently. I flinch at her gentle touch.

‘Yeah, I think it might be fractured. Or maybe broken. Either way, you should get it checked out.’ Well, that’s not ideal.

‘We should...go to the sickbay.’ Ned suggests. 

‘Uh, Ned, the whole spider thing?’

‘Oh, uh, right.’

‘Just call Tony, he’ll be fine with it.’ MJ says.

‘But what if he’s in a meeting?’ I argue.

‘Does the Tony Stark you know ever go to meetings? Also, he’d drop anything for you.’

‘Yeah, okay.’ I pull my phone out of my pocket - thankfully not any more cracked than it already was - and dial Tony’s number.

‘Hey kid, you’re supposed to be in class.’

‘Uh, yeah, about that…’

‘Spit it out.’

‘I may or may not have done something to my arm so it may or may not be fractured or broken or d) all of the above.’ Tony pauses for a moment and I can hear him breathing over the phone.

‘Yeah, I’ll be there in ten. Wait outside and I’ll sign you out.’ He hangs up and I put my phone back in my pocket.

‘Mr Stark’ll be here in ten minutes. He said to wait outside and he’ll sign me out.’

‘Okay. We’ll go to class and tell the teachers and stuff that you’re gone.’ Ned says as the final bell to get in class rings.

‘Okay, bye!’ They head off to English and I go to the front steps to wait.

 

‘Hey, Underoos.’ Mr Stark pulls up outside the front gates. ‘How are you doing?’

‘Fine I guess. Being stabbed hurts more.’ He sighs and rubs his face.

‘Please don’t say things like that when I’m around.’

‘M’kay. The office is this way.’ I lead him to the reception.

‘Hey, Wendy. How do you get signed out? I haven’t done this before.’ I greet the receptionist. She looks up from her computer and sees that I’m accompanied by Mr Stark.

‘Oh, uh, Peter. I, uh, I do that. Are you going to be coming back today?’ I look at Mr Stark.

‘Am I?’

‘Let’s just say no at the moment but you might.’ Wendy clicks her mouse and types something in.

‘Okay. That’s you signed out.’

‘Thank you!’ I follow Mr Stark out the door to his car.

 

We drive to the tower chatting as usual.

‘I called ahead so Helen’s got an x-ray machine set up.’

‘Okay.’

‘Have you ever had a broken bone?’

‘Not while Spidermanning, but yeah, when I was like three. I fell down the stairs and broke my collarbone.’

‘You just need to avoid stairs, that’s your problem.’ Tony pushes open the door to the medbay and I walk in with him behind me. Helen explains how an x-ray works and positions my arm on the table with a little card saying which arm it is. Tony and Helen go behind a screen and she turns on the screen. She adjusts my arm again to get a photo from another angle and goes behind the screen again. Once it’s finished and the scan’s up on the computer screen, she looks at it in confusion.

‘It-it looks like you don’t have bones.’ My eyes widen. What. ‘Okay, I think you might have moved and blurred the picture so we’ll just do it again.’ I nod and sit back down with my arm on the table. 

‘Make sure you don’t move, okay?’ We repeat the procedure again and gather around the computer. The results are the same.

‘I definitely didn’t move that time. I held my breath and everything.’ Helen nods.

‘I believe you. I think you might have some sort of mutated exoskeleton instead of normal human bones.’ Well. That’s new. ‘Did you feel any pain in your bones when the spider bit you, or in the days after?’ She asks.

‘Uh, yeah, I guess? I was achy all over for about a week. At the time I thought I just had a bad strain of the flu or something.’

‘That might have been it. If it’s possible, I’d like to do a couple of tests at some point if that’s okay with you?’ Helen directs her question to Mr Stark.

‘As long as there aren’t too many, and you can opt-out whenever you want kiddo.’

‘Yeah, okay.’

‘Your wrist is fractured but you have got the advanced healing factor so you won’t need a cast. I would recommend wearing a brace for a couple of days to make sure it heals properly.’ She digs around in a drawer and produces a black and blue splint. ‘Here you go.’

‘Thanks.’ I follow Mr Stark out the door until we arrive in the lab.

‘I figured since you broke your arm and all, you could hang out here with me instead. We can order pizza.’

‘Really Mr Stark? I should break my arm more often.’ I give him a hug.

‘No. Do not do that ever again. You’re banned from stairs.’

 

We settle into comfortable banter while working on a robot that’ll follow you around until you pat it.

‘Hey, Mr Stark. I just remembered what we learnt in biology last week.’

‘What?’

‘Spiders don’t have bones.’

‘Well, you always learn something new with you, kid.’ Mr Stark says finally.

 


End file.
